Lord of the Truth

"Give me the oath tablet."

A big smile appeared on Robin's face, then he hurriedly tossed a metal tablet to the Tree Father, who in turn picked it up, passed his soul sense through it, and began reciting a clear oath.

The oath was not long and full of terms and conditions and needed to be checked for loopholes and all of that. The Tree Father did not place an expiry date for the oath or a condition to end it, It was a very simple declaration of loyalty. This showed the tree father's utmost sincerity and this is exactly what he was trying to show. 

After that, he passed the oath tablet again to Robin and bowed slightly, "I greet the Emperor."

"Haha, marvelous! I assure you that you will not regret your choice today, Descartes. You will gain much more than simply nullifying your Return to Earth!" Robin shouted laughing, even Billy beside him let out a long sigh of relief, this was an event worth celebrating!

Then Rubin took out a second oath tablet and used it himself, saying clearly that he would hand Descartes the fourth stage of the major heavenly law of life and give him a way out of *Returning to Earth*, but he did not set a maximum time limit for it.

Descartes did not mind the part as well. If either part of the oath had been easy, Descartes or one of the other Tree Fathers would have been able to implement them during the past two hundred thousand years. Actually, he would be surprised if it took Robin only a few tens of thousands of years to fulfill his promise!

Robin then took out several tablets for storing information and passed on the Major Heavenly Law of Life to the Third Stage, the Soul Strengthening Technique, the Soul Replenishing Technique, and even his experience with the Silver Soul, And most importantly, one of the tablets contained the Foundation Modification Technique!!

The Tree Father Avatar bowed slightly and received the tablets with both hands from Robin, then passed his own soul sense through them and closed his eyes for several minutes...

"Hoo~ Thank you very much for your generosity, Your Excellency." Descartes let out a relieved sigh and waved his hands. A few roots emerged from the soil and quietly pulled the tablets down until they were out of sight. Then he returned to looking at Robin emotionlessly.

The Soul Replenishing Technique and the Soul Strengthening Technique are not something new to him since he has his own versions of techniques that do the same job, but it would be useful for him to take a look at other techniques and perhaps find new ideas in them.

Although Robin does not know how his soul evolved, his experience with the silver soul and its characteristics will be of great help to him in the future, but this is in the future...

The Foundation Modification Technique is an unexpected happy surprise as it solved a lot of questions about how to use the Major Heavenly Law of life to the fullest, and it shortened his research time by many many years, however, it is still lacking. This technique is intended to work on the energy gathering center of humans and demi-humans. The Tree Father will need to put a lot of effort into it in order to be able to use it on himself and switch to using the Major Heavenly Law of life.

The only tangible benefit he gained today was the Major Heavenly Law of Life yp to the Third Stage, and that was more than enough as a down payment!

But does this mean that he forgot his previous life as a player and suddenly loved his new life as a pawn? No, definitely not... Only a few minutes passed after he took the oath, and some regret already began to appear on his face. Did he really make the right decision? If Robin hadn't been holding the knife to his neck, would he really have chosen to follow him for those benefits? It is not as if he had never tasted freedom and movement before. He gave it up for the sake of a long life, and even this would be greatly diminished now, and his forsaken dream... oh, his dream.

As for Robin, he only smiled at the way Descartes called him. Since he had sworn allegiance to him directly, it was natural for him to call him my lord or master, but the *Emperor* made him another subordinate in the imperial system, and had a feeling of distance... But Robin did not mind, after all, he did not need a servant, but a general.

"Descartes, do not think that your rewards will be limited to the fourth degree of the Law of Life and the method of nullifying your Return to Earth. These things are the price of your loyalty. Work well for me and I will not be stingy on you." As if Robin could read the features of the avatar, he spoke immediately

"Oh? Do you have anything else good?" The avatar raised his leafy eyebrows

"What do you think of a technique where you can absorb your opponent's soul power and turn it into your own?" Robin smiled

"..How much force will you benefit from it, most will be wasted right?!" It was clear that the tree father was somewhat excited

Robin laughed. Descartes' question was to the point without twisting and turning, but his answer was destined to shock Descartes again, "There is no wasted energy. You will be able to absorb 100% of your target's soul force, no matter how much is there."

"No, no, this...this is impossible. Do you realize what the consequences of this technique are?!" Descartes' tree-father personification took two steps back, and for the second time since the dialogue began, his facial expression completely changed

"Haha, of course I know. Even though I didn't create it to be used like that, It can be said that it is a demonic technique. In the hands of the wrong person, it can cause disasters and mass slaughters everywhere. As for me, I was content with using it on your friend Hoofy. How do you think I achieved my silver soul? Although I do not know whether it was a coincidence or just a development resulting from being saturated with soul force, It must have something to do with the Soul Filling technique." Robin hit his thigh and laughed out loud

"If you opened your offers with this technique I would have accepted! what do you want in exchange?! I want it!" Although Descartes tried to remain calm, or at least pretend to be so, it was impossible

Robin waved dismissively, "Forget it, do you think I'm an idiot? I'd rather give you the ability to move and the fourth stage of the Law of Life than give you the Soul Filling Technique, even if you become Physically stronger I could still knock you down if you ever tried to play with your tail, how can I give you a technique that can make you stronger than me? Maybe then even the Oath tablet won't be able to restrain you."

"...Why did you tell me about it then?" It was clear how disappointed the Tree Father was

"Wark well for me and I will give it to you. This will happen when I get stronger, of course.'" Robin chuckled again

Descartes nodded after a long sigh, "...Sigh~ Understood, I will see what I can do for... Your Excellency..."

"Good, now tell me about what you found that made you start the Annihilation War!" Rubin pointed towards Descartes's avatar seriously

"This..." Descartes's tree-father incarnation began squeezing his hands, mostly an involuntary reaction

"Dickie, my dear, please remember that the days of your personal glory have ended the moment you swore allegiance to me. Your life itself has become mine. If I become stronger, your standing will rise with me. If we are defeated in war, you will die alongside me. We agreed on a price and you accepted, you have no way of taking your words back now. You don't want the oath condition to be activated, right? Come on, my dear, speak." Robin leaned his body forward and spoke as if he were speaking to his disobedient son, even though the being standing in front of him had lived thousands of times his lifespan!

"I know! I know, but..." Descartes' Tree Father avatar raised his hand and looked at her helplessly. Opening his mouth now means abandoning his dream, his endeavor, and his purpose in life. As soon as the invaders know the secret behind everything that is happening, everything will go with the wind...

'But... hasn't everything gone to waste already? Even if the invaders don't know the secret, they will continue to advance and try to take us all down anyway for the sake of resources and territory.' The tree father sighed and convinced himself

Then he raised his face again and looked at Robin, "What we found that day was... the secret to eternal life."